Utah Valley University’s Women’s Leadership luncheon, held on Thursday, March 15, at DoTerra, raised over $280,000 towards a new scholarship fund in honor of Paige B. Holland, who was also recognized as the newest honorary member of the Utah Women’s Walk UVU Women of Influence gallery.

 

Holland has been instrumental in transforming what was once a women’s crisis center into a Women’s Success Center that has served thousands of women with financial and emotional support needs. Holland’s vision for the center was praised at the luncheon by colleagues and even a mother of three children who is currently in her second year at UVU with the help of the Women’s Success Center. 

 

When Holland arrived at UVU in 2009, she said she wondered what her contribution to the university would be. However, when she started gathering statistics revealing that Utah had one of the lowest graduation rates for women in the country, she knew she had found her calling. For the past nine years she has worked tirelessly with others who have shared her passion to improve the opportunities for women’s success in education.  

 

When asked how she felt about the evolution of the Women’s Success Center, Susan Richards, member of the advisory board for the Women’s Success Center and a past chair of the Women’s Success Center, said, “It is so fulfilling, because we knew one of the biggest barriers for women going back to college was money.”

 

Tara Ivie, current director of the Women’s Success Center stated the motto of the center is, “Recruit, retain, and graduate women.” This mission has resulted in the creation of hundreds of scholarships for women in need. Ivie shared research showing that women who receive scholarships from the Women’s Success Center are 17% more likely to graduate that those of their peers.

 

 “There is not a day that goes by that I don’t use my education,” Holland said. With Holland’s legacy secured at UVU, more women will be able to complete their education with the support needed so that they can utilize their eduation daily, just like Holland.

 

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About Utah Valley University

 

At 37,282 students and growing, Utah Valley University is the largest public university in the state of Utah and one of a few in the nation offering a dual-mission model that combines the rigor and richness of a first-rate teaching university with the openness and vocational programs of a community college.

 

UVU’s unique model, which focuses on student success, engaged learning, rigorous academic programs and faculty-mentored research, is transforming higher education by making it more affordable and accessible to students of all backgrounds.